Douai Abbeyis home to a community of monks of theEnglish Benedictine Congregation. Under the patronage of St Edmund, King & Martyr, we were founded in Paris in 1615. Uprooted by the French Revolution we settled at Douai in Flanders, finally returning to England in 1903, to Woolhampton in Berkshire.

However, the primary work of the monks is the regular celebration of the sung Divine Office and the Mass, and all our liturgical worship is open to the public. While this website explains our life,history and vocationin greater depth, you are always welcome tocome and see.

Those brethren who are working at a great distance and, in the judgment of the Abbot, cannot come to the oratory at the appointed hours, shall perform the Work of God in the fear of the Lord and on bended knee in the place where they are occupied.